Difference between supporting RAW file format and a camera that makes it?

[Tuolumne]

I note that image processing software claims to support various digital camera formats, not RAW formats. So, what's the difference between supporting a RAW file format and supporting the camera that makes that file? For example, this spec page for Aperture 2 specifies whcih cameras the SW supports. But once the RAW format for a manufacturer is supported, is there any model-to-model difference the software has to account for? This has me confused.

/T

 

[rover]

There must be because the ACR 5.5 upgrade adds support for specific cameras, E-P1 and Pentax K7 for instance.

I just installed CS4 and prior to running an upgrade it could not read the RAW files from my E-P1.

 

[Tuolumne]

And what about if you convert the camera's native RAW file format to DNG? Does that work right in image processing software that supports DNG files (which all do)?

/T

 

[jfretless]

My Canon 10D used .crw files for RAW, then Canon moved to .cr2 files. The Canon 1D classic used .tif files for RAW.

 

[rover]

DNG is an open format so I would think it would work. I don't know if there are changes in the DNG RAW format. It must be at least backwards compatible, old DNG should open on in an new processor software. I don't know about forward compatibility.

 

[Tuolumne]

My Canon 10D used .crw files for RAW, then Canon moved to .cr2 files. The Canon 1D classic used .tif files for RAW.

What if the RAW file format doesn't change between models. For example, don't all Nikon cameras create .NEF files?

/T

 

[jfretless]

And what about if you convert the camera's native RAW file format to DNG? Does that work right in image processing software that supports DNG files (which all do)?

/T

deleted because I wasn't remembering correctly. Don't want to mislead.

 

[jfretless]

deleted because I wasn't remembering correctly. Don't want to mislead.

 

[StaaleS]

What if the RAW file format doesn't change between models. For example, don't all Nikon cameras create .NEF files?

/T

All Nikons create NEF files, even my Coolscan V creates NEF files. But alas, not all NEF files are created alike. If you look hard at it NEF is just a three-letter suffix after all, Nikon can put whatever they want into the file itself if they want to be perverse about it.

Software that can decipher NEFs from a Nikon D70 cannot necessarily decipher NEF files from a D3x. The file type is the same but the format of the contents has been changed by Nikon fiat. Presumably (I haven't looked, but that's how I would have done it) there is a header structure at the start of the NEF file that specifies just exactly what kind of NEF it is, that the software can pick up and act accordingly.

 

[Mephiloco]

raw camera files vary from camera to camera. Most camera makers use their own proprietary raw format, So, the software will support an actual RAW image file, like, .RAW no problems, like a file you get from vuescan or save as a raw tiff etc, but the need for camera compatibility comes from the manufacturer proprietary formats.

I had an olympus p&s a few years back, and when I shot in raw it was a pain in the ass to open the files, even in photoshop, since it saved them as some weird format that olympus didn't even fully endorse (at the time at least).

Hope this helps.